Improvement in apparatus for cooling and freezing



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.'

ALEXANDER C. TWINING, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND FREEZING.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,051, dated April 22, 1862.

To aZZ whom t may concern.-

Beit known that I, ALEXANDER C. TWIN- ING, of the city of New Haven, county of 'New Haven, and State of Connecticut, have invented 'a new and useful Improvement in Fixtures, &e., for Refrigeration and Congelation; and I declare that the followingis a full description of my invention, of which- Figure I of the accompanying drawings shows a front view; Fig. II, a side view; Eig.'

III, a plan or ground view, and Fig. IV an elevation and side view of certain details and modifications.

In a former patent I have described the general process which is employed.

In the drawings, A A A is the exhaust-pump for evaporation of a volatile liquid, and B B B B is the exhaust or vacuum vessel, in which the above pump keeps up a partial vacuum, and into which ether (making that the type of any volatile liquid) 'is introduced to be evaporated in part, and consequently cooled. In this present construction the cooled ether is drawn out of the vessel by the lower circulating-pump, a a. a, and is forced by the same into the freezing-eisterns or refrigerating-vessels (not shown in drawings) thrpugh the circulating-pipe a a and back through b b. The

temperature of the cold ether is raised in the act or process of freezing the water, te., exposed to its-action, and it is returned (by the aid of a second circulating-pump, if desired) through the upper circulating-pipe, c c c, into the top of the vacuum-vessel. This lastpipe eX- pands into the funnel-shaped distrib uting-cavity e e e, which has its bottom pierced with holes to discharge the ether in a shower upon the grat-ing F F. For more complete distribution of the ether upon the grating an auxiliary plato, g g, is interposed and is pierced with holes more numerous and of smaller size than in the funnel-plate above mentioned. The ether now falls in drops upon the middle of. the upper grate-bars, around which there pass cloths 1f i i i down to and around the bars of a lower grating, which is suspended by them. Straining-scrcws pass tln'ou gh tlu'- vaculun-vessels under side into lugs east upon the ring of the grati ng h 1,by which the clothsV are strained taut. These cloths oil'er a very extended surface for the ether to run down upon and so be exposed to evaporation in the Vacuum. Metallic plates without the gratings and other thin diaphragm would constitute an equivalent arrangement, although less advantageous. Moreover, the metallic plates might be placed horizontally with rims around and holes pierced through them, form` ing colanders one below another in a'series, showering theether through successively, as shown-in Fig. IV of the drawings. The ether or other vapor passes between the funnel e e e and upper head of the vacuum-vessel, and is drawn to the exhaust-pump through the discharge-pipe 7o la 7c and its controlling-cock; but this passing vapor strikes open diaphragms f f, ne., of metal, cloth, or-other suitable material, arranged between the funnel and the upper head to catch smalldrops or mist of liquid which the vapor may bear along in its current, and discharge them in drops or vesicles down the diaphragms. The vapor, however, turns into the spaces or slits left in or between the diaphragms, and meets other diaphragms overlapping these spaces,

but with a distance between, all as in the draw- This may be susceptible of still otherv ings. application. The vapor pumped out of the vacuum-vessel is thrownby the ether-pump A A A at its return-strokes into therestorer D D D, through the pipe ZZZ and its controlling cock. into liquid, according to the operationv described in my patent dating from July, 1850; but during the process a little air becomes mixed vwith the Vapor, and this air would accumulate in the restorerand impede or destroy continuous condensation if not rethrows the mixture iutftlie condenser, where most of its vapor coiulenscd'under the augmented pressureon the outside of the pipes, which have waterrunning through them, just as in the restorer. The gas-pump now draws the air, wil-l1 a little vapor still in it, from 'the condenser through the pipe p' p p and its controlling-cock, and throws it through *r r 7' with Here it is reconverted" as high compression as practicable into the precipitating-vessel o o o, which acts by its pipes like the condenser and restorer; but the precipitating-vessel emb races,by. means of the connecting-pipe s s s s and its controllingcock, the narrow cavity t t taround the lower part of the vacuum-vessel, which'lovver part I call the cold-ether reservoir. This reservoir is of sheet-copper, and by the important assistance of its lour temperature precipitates from the compressed air nearly allits small residue of vapor. The airrmay then escape through the small oriice o r cock and escape-pipe u u. This escape-pipe may be enlarged and partially filled with Water, alcohol, sponge, cotton, or other. absorbents to catch any remain- -ing ether, small as its quantity will be. This 'operation 'will be aided by making the escaping air expand in a small workingpump on its Way t'o the escape. The absorbed or liquid ether may be returned through a pipe leading from its containing substance and vessel to the vacuum-vessel, taking care to close the escape-pipe from air'for the time being. It is obvious that I may employ any part of either the vacuum-vessels surface or ofthe circulatin'g or the vapor pipes for precipitation, just as I have described for the cold-'ether' reservoir.

Again, if any part of the apparatus is liable to concealed leakage, it may be inclosed by a casing, as the vacuum-vesselin Fig. IV, or by a chamber, as the stuffing-box of the Imain piston-rod at I, and the cavity or chamber may be kept filled with water, or the escape-pipe uffa .may be introduced -into those cavities. By thesemeans the leakage-will carry back the ether vapor which the escape air would other- -wise Waste,'or will itself be avoided. Thus,

also, gas leaking out from one part may leak in at another by embracing both in the same cavity or inclosure. It Will'be under-stood that pipes, cocks, and channels are provided `to conduct the respective precipitations o f ether back to the' main `body or current, and, again, that non-conducting Wrappers orcoverings are provided for the' 'vacuum-vessel and for all 'pipes orparts exposed to injurious radiation.

The returned liquid from the restorer will hold Oils and other impurities derived from the ether-pump or leakage of water, &c. These I propose to work-out by the clarifier E E E.

This is a hollow cylinder with tighthcads,

Whichare capped both above and below by cavities of convenient shape, w -wjw n. Pipes run through both heads tightly. The pipes open vbyaverycontracted bore in each into the upper cavity, and by their full bore they open i n to the under cavity. This last opens into the vacuumvessel through a large central pipe, 1J n, and its controlling-cock, whiclnlike some of the other cocks, is closed at bottom and has a;

stuili n gfo'r its stem. The discharge-pipe a; of the restorer opens into the hollow cylinder and fills it around the pipes with Warm restored ether, which discharges into the vacnum-vessel through the pipe fr and its controlling-cock, or, if preferred, a self-acting valve which opens and shuts or contracts by flotation in the liquid itself. .The upper cavity opens upward by the pipe andV cock y 1/ into the return ether-pipe c e c.

The operation is as follows: The. pipe and cock y yallow a regulated stream of the return ether to run fromv the circulating currentA into w lwand intothe small upper orifices of the., pipes, which terminate in a' horizontal plane. The ether spreads along the inner surfaces-and is evaporated by the warm liquid around the pipes, cooling the latter. The vapor'flies down the pipes and up through the centralpipe into the vacuum, While impurities rundown and may be drawn off into a bottle screwed upon z byfirst opening and then closing the cock at z.

l-Vhat I claim in the above, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is embodied in the following: l

1. The condensing-pumpand condenser,in combination with the restorer, Whether with or Without vthe gas-pump and precipitatingvessel between them and the'escape-pipe, the gas-pum p and preeipitating-vessel, in combination with the restorer, Wheth er with or without the con (lensing-pum p an d condenser intervening,.and the employmentv of any cold. surface. of the vacuum-vessel or of the eirculatin gpipes or the vapor-pipe as part of a precipitating-vessel, or of a condenser in vanyway substantially the same as above.

2. The use of cloths as above, or other plates equivalent thereto, in combination with a disthe circulatingcold current or the reconducted liquid from the restorer.

5. The combination of a vacuum-vessel and a liquid cooled therein with -a pump or pumps to draw out from the vacuum-vessel and throwback in a con tinuous circulation that freezing or refrigerati n g liquid.

. (i. The connection oi the escape-pipe u u, or of any escape or leak outward, With a cavity surrounding any part leaking inward, to ob- Viate loss ot ether, as above.

AL'EXR. C... TWININ G. Witnesses: EDWARD C. IIERRICK,

CHAUNCEY A. DICKERMAN. 

